The invention relates to a loading mechanism for loading and unloading an information disc into/from an information-technology apparatus, a first guide and a second guide each having a groove being provided for the disc edge, the second guide comprising a rotationally drivable transport wheel which rolls the information disc into and out of the apparatus for the purpose of loading and unloading.
Such a loading mechanism is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,163,040. In this known loading mechanism the information disc is guided at one side by a rigid curved and grooved first guide member as a first guide and at the other side it is guided by a grooved transport wheel as a second guide. To introduce the information disc into the apparatus it is manually inserted into the loading slot of the apparatus and brought into engagement with the grooves of the first guide and the transport wheel. The transport wheel is motor driven during the loading process and the information disc is rolled into the apparatus between the transport wheel and the first guide along a curved loading path in the apparatus. The grooves of the first guide and the transport wheel are each V-shaped.
However, a construction of this kind has several disadvantages. Owing to the use of the curved first guide, the information disc can only be introduced into the apparatus only along a curved loading path via the first guide, insertion along a straight path, however, being impossible. As compared with straight-line insertion of the information disc this requires a larger width of the loading mechanism and hence of the apparatus. Particularly for automotive uses this is a considerable drawback, because the room available for mounting of the apparatus is then limited.
The information discs normally have a central positioning hole. In order to avoid damage to the disc surface, it is advantageous if a user touches the information disc only touched at the edge of the positioning hole and at the periphery of the information disc.
In the known arrangement the center of the information disc must be inserted by hand up to at least the location of the center of the transport wheel into the position referred to below as the intermediate position, before the loading mechanism proceeds to automatic insertion of the information disc. In this intermediate position the positioning hole is no longer situated outside the housing front and the user cannot hold the information disc in the desired manner at the edge of the positioning hole and at the periphery of the information disc. As a result, the user is forced to touch the information-disc surface in order to bring the information disc into the intermediate position. This leads to increased wear of the information discs.